The present invention is related to physical characteristic monitoring devices, and in particular to monitoring devices capable of monitoring alcohol consumption in human subjects.
Large numbers of individuals are currently housed in prisons. This represents a significant cost to society both in terms of housing expense and wasted productivity. To address this concern, house arrest systems have been developed for use by less violent offenders. This allows the less violent offender to be monitored outside of a traditional prison system and allows the offender an opportunity to work and interact to at least some degree in society. The same approach is applied to paroled prisoners allowing for a monitored transition between a prison atmosphere and returning to society.
In some cases, it is not practical to parole an offender because they suffer from an alcohol addiction that may lead to the same activity that led to their original incarceration. Present approaches to monitor alcohol consumption are costly, time consuming and in some cases, impractical. In other cases, the terms of an individual's parole may include a requirement that the individual abstain from the use of alcohol, but monitoring adherence to such terms is costly and time consuming. In yet other circumstances, it may be possible that an individual could avoid incarceration altogether if they agree to abstain from the use of alcohol. Again, assuring adherence to such terms is at best costly and time consuming.
Various remote alcohol consumption monitoring systems have been developed, but they exhibit some weaknesses. Such weaknesses limit the utility of such systems. Thus, for at least this reason, there exists a need in the art for more advanced approaches, devices and systems for detecting alcohol usage by an individual.